- Saana Qalsoom, 24, says she was told in a job interview that the hijab should not be worn in the classroom
- University of Hong Kong graduate subsequently called schools to check whether they were open to hiring hijab-wearing teachers before agreeing to an interview
After graduating from Hong Kong’s oldest university and dreaming of becoming a kindergarten teacher, Saana Qalsoom did not expect her hijab to affect her job search.
Qalsoom, 24, said she decided to wear the head covering every day a few years ago as an expression of religious devotion, but was stunned when she was told by a principal during a job interview to take off her hijab if she wanted to get hired.
“She told me [the hijab] should not be worn in the classroom. People should, you know, keep this outside the classroom,” she said.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
The face-to-face job interview with the kindergarten took place in August last year after Qalsoom graduated from the University of Hong Kong with a bachelor’s degree in applied child development.
She said the kindergarten told her that other employees with a Muslim background were willing to remove the hijab when they were at work
Qalsoom, of Pakistani origin, said they tried to convince her to follow suit, with reasoning such as children would snatch her hijab.
“I was quiet. I didn’t say anything because it was like … they are putting me in a situation where I feel like I’m the one who’s wrong,” she added.
The Equal Opportunities Commission declined to comment on individual cases. Photo: Jelly Tse© Provided by South China Morning Post
She recalled that when she tried to explain that Islam required women to cover themselves in front of the opposite sex, the school replied that they would not hire male teachers, and that should ease her concern.
Qalsoom said she walked away from the interview disappointed and feeling confused.
Subsequently, she called to check with schools she had applied to whether they were open to hiring hijab-wearing teachers before agreeing to an interview, as she had learned the lesson from the experience. She said two schools responded with “no”.
The Post contacted two of the schools Qalsoom named. Principals of both denied that they turned away candidates because of their religious practice.
Jojo Chong, principal of Western Pacific Kindergarten in Sham Shui Po, the first school Qalsoom went for an interview, told the Post earlier that they respected teachers with different religious practices.
“We are known to be a school immersed in South Asian culture for many years,” Chong said. “We have full respect for all religions.”
Principal Choi Ka-lin, of the Christian & Missionary Alliance Scholars’ Anglo-Chinese Kindergarten in Chai Wan, said the school had not “directly rejected” Qalsoom’s application.
She said the school also never had regulations stopping Muslim teachers from wearing a hijab, but some staff voluntarily removed the garment before they came into work.
“It must be a misunderstanding. Our sponsoring body also does not have specific restrictions on teachers’ outfits,” she said in a phone interview this month.
Christian & Missionary Alliance Scholars’ Anglo-Chinese Kindergarten says it did not t© Provided by South China Morning Post
Qalsoom said she reported her unpleasant job interview experience to the Equal Opportunities Commission last year, but the complaint was not accepted after the watchdog reviewed the information she provided.
Under various ordinances, the statutory body only regulates sex, disability, family status, and race discrimination. None of these existing laws are applicable on the grounds of religion discrimination.
The commission declined to comment on individual cases but said in principle it might decide not to conduct or to discontinue an investigation into a complaint for several reasons, including that it was “satisfied that the alleged act is not unlawful by virtue of a provision under the ordinances”.
It added that the complainant also needed to provide details of the alleged incident, including facts, information identifying the respondent, and information in support of the complaint.
Last year, the commission received two complaints alleging discrimination based on wearing a hijab during recruitment. It did not identify whether one of these was made by Qalsoom.
Now working as a kindergarten teacher in a school which she said she found welcoming, Qalsoom added that she had learned to cope with negative comments from parents and did not take them all to heart.
One time the father of a student said the child was scared of her because of her hijab.
She said: “But he said that in a very chill tone, and was a bit like smiling … It probably takes some time to process it as long as [I] don’t have an instant negative feeling about it.”
She said she told herself there were schools out there which valued teachers with an ethnic minority background and saw them as an asset.
Wearing her hijab with pride, Qalsoom only took it off in class when she showed her pupils how she puts it on her head.
“I like to help children know what the thing is I am wearing. I showed them a bit of my hair and I told them I wear a scarf and then I use a pin to cover it,” she said, adding that the twinkle in their eyes had made the hardships go away.
